You don’t need me to tell you that Mike Tyson has been on the ropes for almost 20 years now. But I will anyway. It’s one of those sports stories that’s hard to believe—no matter how many times it gets told. The jabs started coming back in 1990 when Iron Mike, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, got knocked out by Buster Douglas during a match in Tokyo. Two years later, his career caught a devastating right hook when he was convicted of raping an 18-year-old Miss Black America beauty pageant contestant. Tyson, who won 12 of his first 19 professional fights by knockout, tried valiantly to return to the ring after serving three years in prison, but multiple attempts at a comeback came and went without a return to the top. In 2003, Tyson declared bankruptcy—despite earning approximately $300 million during his professional career—by 2005, his career was officially over following a pair of knockout losses against lightly-regarded competition.
But the bleeding didn’t stop there. In 2005, Tyson appeared on the front page of USA Today alongside the quote: “My whole life has been a waste. I’ve been a failure.” In 2006, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI and felony drug possession in Arizona. He checked himself into rehab and later pled guilty to possessions of narcotics and DUI. But in 2008, a glimmer of hope emerged when the documentary, Tyson(Sony Pictures Classics, 2009), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France. It told his story, in his words and finally gave him a chance to put his career and his life in perspective. The film, which was directed by James Toback and produced by Carmelo Anthony’s Krossover Entertainment, is scheduled to hit theaters later this month.
But instead of some star-studded red carpet affair celebrating the release of a film documenting the life and times of one of the sports world’s most captivating and polarizing characters, Iron Mike’s flawed story has been exposed to the masses before it’s time: the documentary leaked online in full yesterday, its premature “release” relegated to little more than a blogger’s quip and an embedded video. But when you’re dealing with Mike Tyson, would you expect anything other than an unhappy ending? Here, VIBE steps in the ring to analyze the most tragic moments in one of professional boxing’s most tragic tales.
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